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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I chose the audiobook for this book, and it was read like bad spoken word. The progression of the story moved slowly for the first 3/4 of the book with excessive details that did not add to the plot or character development. The main character has a really common issue among Black women and I love that it has been written and is starting conversations. Good idea, poor execution.
The good elements of this are SO good--I mean both in the audiobook performance and in the writing. This gave me lots of feels, some uncomfortable and some delicious, and the pain of being in that weird place with former situationships and weird career stuff was soooo well rendered.
It's just that the editing process so obviously didn't happen (there are just so many sloppy things, like pronouns with unclear antecedents and awkward, constant shifting between omniscient third and limited third) and also this is at least the third Harper audiobook I've listened to in as many months with serious problems so I think I can conclude now that it is just HarperCollins policy to literally not QC audiobooks at all. Like I was willing to go with regional (Maryland) accent and AAVE for some stuff that bothered me personally but that I could recognize my own snobbery and linguistic purism in, and I know some things are just dead and never going to be fixed, like pronouncing mischievous with four syllables instead of the correct three, but "kertharsis" and "poTpurry" is just not knowing how words work, and a producer should have caught those types of errors (and there were many) for pickups. Apparently Harper Audio has just completely abdicated that part of the work. Sucks for listeners and it's disrespectful to authors.
It's just that the editing process so obviously didn't happen (there are just so many sloppy things, like pronouns with unclear antecedents and awkward, constant shifting between omniscient third and limited third) and also this is at least the third Harper audiobook I've listened to in as many months with serious problems so I think I can conclude now that it is just HarperCollins policy to literally not QC audiobooks at all. Like I was willing to go with regional (Maryland) accent and AAVE for some stuff that bothered me personally but that I could recognize my own snobbery and linguistic purism in, and I know some things are just dead and never going to be fixed, like pronouncing mischievous with four syllables instead of the correct three, but "kertharsis" and "poTpurry" is just not knowing how words work, and a producer should have caught those types of errors (and there were many) for pickups. Apparently Harper Audio has just completely abdicated that part of the work. Sucks for listeners and it's disrespectful to authors.
I can’t with this one. The main character bothered me. The choices were stressful. It was giving me anxiety and I’ve got so much else to read!
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Struggled to continue at times but I’m glad I did.
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4/5
I thoroughly enjoyed Homebodies but at some points I didn’t know where it was headed. I was frustrated with the main character for most of the book, I needed her to act and speak up as that’s what we all want: to be heard. For Mickey to already have a career, this reads more as a young adult coming of age story and once I embraced that I was able to give Mickey some slack and hope for growth past her insecurities.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #Homebodies
You may also enjoy: Maame by Jessica George
I thoroughly enjoyed Homebodies but at some points I didn’t know where it was headed. I was frustrated with the main character for most of the book, I needed her to act and speak up as that’s what we all want: to be heard. For Mickey to already have a career, this reads more as a young adult coming of age story and once I embraced that I was able to give Mickey some slack and hope for growth past her insecurities.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #Homebodies
You may also enjoy: Maame by Jessica George
I was able to get my hands on a paperback release of HOMEBODIES. I eyed it back in the spring of 2023 when it released and so dang happy I was able to prioritize it.
This is a backlist title you want on your New Years list friends…a young Black writers world is turned upside down when she loses her coveted job in media and pens a searing manifesto about racism in the industry… I thought this was an impressive debut. Messy and filled with self doubt. Centered around a low point that feels like your on the tailspin alongside the main character. I’m really looking forward to future books by Tembe Denton-Hurst.
In the mean time I recommend Tembe’s Substack, Extracurricular she does a series… Final File that is a monthly wrap up that is filled with perusable content I’m so happy I found.
Thank you @harperpernnial
This is a backlist title you want on your New Years list friends…a young Black writers world is turned upside down when she loses her coveted job in media and pens a searing manifesto about racism in the industry… I thought this was an impressive debut. Messy and filled with self doubt. Centered around a low point that feels like your on the tailspin alongside the main character. I’m really looking forward to future books by Tembe Denton-Hurst.
In the mean time I recommend Tembe’s Substack, Extracurricular she does a series… Final File that is a monthly wrap up that is filled with perusable content I’m so happy I found.
Thank you @harperpernnial
2.5 stars. This was a really frustrating book, and I'm sad about it, because on the face of it, it contained so many things that should have made me love it. The thing is, when I think about the things in this book that I would have changed to make it a bit better, they are things that sort of change fundamental aspects of the plot and writing and the arcs that I think the author wanted to explore. However, this has some of the most confusing and incomprehensible character writing and development I've ever read. I love reading about messy characters, people who don't have everything figured out, people who make a bunch of mistakes and have to face up to them. But several times during the story, Mickey made some logical leaps that I absolutely could not follow.
First off, this was one of those books where I didn't read the entirety of the blurb before starting, and that might have been a mistake. Something that is mentioned in the first past of the blurb, something that I really thought would be an inciting incident, doesn't happen until way, way later down in the story, and it honestly made this book feel like it was dragging, because I kept waiting for that thing to happen. Maybe it would have been better if I didn't know that thing was going to happen? All the while I was reading, I kept feeling as if I was in limbo, as if the narrative wasn't really going anywhere. That's not really the fault of the book, but it made the reading experience kind of dull. Especially since all of Mickey's time in her hometown was spent making decisions that I just could not get behind, could not comprehend. I really don't want to sound unsympathetic, because again, I like complicated characters, and characters who are sort of fumbling and trying to find their way, but Mickey was ignoring red flags and making comments that made me feel like... what? I can handle unlikeable, but I was struggling with how incomprehensible she was to me. And I don't think Lex is a perfect person, far from it, but I kept expecting Mickey to realise that some of the comments she had made, and some of the accusations that she had levelled at Lex were totally out of line. And that didn't really happen in the way I expected. Honestly, while I think the relationship had good foundations, with all of the things that Mickey goes through and does throughout the course of the book, I'm really unsatisfied with where things leave off.
There was a lot of interesting and searing insight about racism in the writing/journalism industry, but it really did not play a big part in the book, or not as big a part as I was expecting. The author did a great job of capturing that feeling of exhaustion, walking on eggshells around white women especially, the constant self-vigilance. A lot of the time spent on introspection about things in Mickey's hometown could have been put to better use, with the amount of pages this book had. Honestly, the entire storyline with Tee just annoyed me and I think the book would have been better without it. I don't know, I think I'm now just in a nit-picking kind of territory. Everywhere I expected this book to hit me hard, it just gave me a nudge; every ball I expected it to knock out of the park, it just fumbled. Messy black lesbians are like catnip, but I think I would have rather read a book about Lex. Again, not saying she's perfect or anything.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Marcella Cox and it was okay. Definitely not my favourite. There were a lot of pacing issues, just at the basic sentence level, with unnecessary pauses and the like. Still, not too bad. Definitely an interesting debut, and in the moments where it was good, it was really good. But overall... kind of frustrating.
First off, this was one of those books where I didn't read the entirety of the blurb before starting, and that might have been a mistake. Something that is mentioned in the first past of the blurb, something that I really thought would be an inciting incident, doesn't happen until way, way later down in the story, and it honestly made this book feel like it was dragging, because I kept waiting for that thing to happen. Maybe it would have been better if I didn't know that thing was going to happen? All the while I was reading, I kept feeling as if I was in limbo, as if the narrative wasn't really going anywhere. That's not really the fault of the book, but it made the reading experience kind of dull. Especially since all of Mickey's time in her hometown was spent making decisions that I just could not get behind, could not comprehend. I really don't want to sound unsympathetic, because again, I like complicated characters, and characters who are sort of fumbling and trying to find their way, but Mickey was ignoring red flags and making comments that made me feel like... what? I can handle unlikeable, but I was struggling with how incomprehensible she was to me. And I don't think Lex is a perfect person, far from it, but I kept expecting Mickey to realise that some of the comments she had made, and some of the accusations that she had levelled at Lex were totally out of line. And that didn't really happen in the way I expected. Honestly, while I think the relationship had good foundations, with all of the things that Mickey goes through and does throughout the course of the book, I'm really unsatisfied with where things leave off.
There was a lot of interesting and searing insight about racism in the writing/journalism industry, but it really did not play a big part in the book, or not as big a part as I was expecting. The author did a great job of capturing that feeling of exhaustion, walking on eggshells around white women especially, the constant self-vigilance. A lot of the time spent on introspection about things in Mickey's hometown could have been put to better use, with the amount of pages this book had. Honestly, the entire storyline with Tee just annoyed me and I think the book would have been better without it.
Spoiler
Not just because I don't enjoy reading about infidelity, or just because seeing Mickey ignore all of the red flags was frustrating (though both those things are true). But also, some of the ways in which people talked about Tee were frustrating and judgey in the wrong ways. People kept mentioning her status, and the fact that she's working at a grocery and is "washed up" or whatever as if those are flaws, in the same way her lying and manipulating are flaws. Also, IDC how good the strap game is, she was just not appealing.Listened to the audiobook as read by Marcella Cox and it was okay. Definitely not my favourite. There were a lot of pacing issues, just at the basic sentence level, with unnecessary pauses and the like. Still, not too bad. Definitely an interesting debut, and in the moments where it was good, it was really good. But overall... kind of frustrating.
The main character needed to be serious re: the masc lesbian who works part-time at Footlocker